Auto transmission



June 22 1926.

H. O. HAMILTON AUTO TRANSMI SSION 2 Sheets-Sheet l iled June 29, 1925June 22A 1926.

H. o. HAMILTON "AUTO TRANSMISSION 2 sheets-sheet` 2 Filed June 29, 1925INVENTOR HENRY O. HAMILTON /VQI q y KWG?? Patented .lune 22, 1926.

shares PATENT orties?.

HENRY O; lfAMILTON'-, `0]? SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNA.

'Auro TRANSMISSION.

Application mea Jane 29, 1925. serial No. 40,219.

'The *present invention relates to ini'provements-'r in means lier thetransmission 'of power inaut'omobile co1 ruotion, and'is of ueliaraiifter c isl'leusing 'with the employment of the ordinarygearshift and method .ot

pwpulsion,` time @loing-away with the usual elutoh mechanism andproviding elements insuring smooth, gradual `and l speedy notioninfeither the idireetion `ol acceleration or retardation =ofnl speed andan "equally speedy and certain 'actionfin the reversal `ol* power.

prineipel objeotoli the `imientio'n is to pro-vide Ya lpo-Wert'rani'u'iissionifor automobiles lreev filoifuatlie` imperfections ofthe or dinary clutch, gear-shift and reverse eleh ments: and po.c sedotlle-xibility rendering variable speer.

'hanges ol" certain,` speedy, smooth amd easy aeeomplislrment, and therew'ersal ole ia'etiou ot the transmission Ao'f an equally Certain,speedy, smooth and easy ohairaoter.

Other" objects 'Will present themselves as this specification progressesand be more lt'ufl-ly set forth 1in the -ol'alims hereto appended and"foilmin-g' a 1 party thereof. y

Inithe taceomfpanying.two sheets o1E drawings,` forming a parto- :the'specification and nrwhich similar Characters ofreferenoe re- .ter tolike parts, throughout,

Figure lfiis aV -top planview `of strausmission embodyingf'theprinciples of my invention, showing.` the drive shaft and actuatingassembly as theyiappear when in high gea-r for fiiorward speed;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the device, with parts in positionssimilar I'to those shown.infFiggu're l;

liigu'rel''is a transverse section taken-on* line 3 *3 of Figures :1 and2, showing the actuating assembly, reif'ersin'g` meclianism` andoscillator;

Figure 4l: a longitudinal l'nedial seetional view takenfon tl e line'-1-4 'of Filgjm'e 1, througll the` reversing mechanism. the driveshalit, actuatingassembly -and eo-related mechanisms;

Figure 5 is ar-viewolitheright fand left actuating arms disassocia'ted`fro1n the a'ctuating assembly; y

Figure G is s perspective view 'of one' of the link Vconnections betweentl'le actuating assembly and the oscillator; N s l Figure 7 is atransverse sectional detail taken on lines 7-7 of li`iguresy '2 and 4;'andi FigureS is a 'horizontal sectional detail of one ol the linkattaching),` members oar'- ried'by thev oscillator.

Referring more particularly "to the draufmgs, "the invention comprisesthe severfalco related meehanlsms constituting-the tr mission,`consisting', in a general Wray, o1I the main Vdrive shaft 1, connectedat one end to a .prime mover (not shown) a balance'- w'he'elfQ; aerank3; a'oioss-head/e adapted -for r'ectilineal movement iu its guide-Ways5; a cross-head bearing 6""eon'necting' said"- Cross-head to theoscillator Y link connections 8 and '9 eonneetejd at opposite sides to-the actuating assembly 410 mountedifor rotation'lup'ou the drivensliaft 'llgandth'e' reversingmechanism 12' mounted adjacent theactuating assembly and adapted? to 'ooact therewith.

The fluid pressure' brake mechanism" 13, shown im theclfrawings;is*eon'n-eeted,- through a 'Gluten 'to the drive Eil-raft a'tuate'dby"'meansf-off a pushl-r'od and 'foot-pedal" mechanism f 14.

The main drive shaft 1 is mounted in bearing braokets 15a-nd16"'eXte'nding for-v Wardly from thefoonventionalibase platefl Vandi'sprvidedatfoneend With'L a coupling 18 adapted lier `seeureme'nt `tothe en'fri'ne crank shaft, and at its other enol Wit a' smalll yewl'eel2,y adapted 'for connection to fth'e orosshead' 4 by mea-nstofthe crank3.

The cross-heads isvgrooved at its verticall edges 19" and '20 Ato litthe tongues 21 and 22 of the guide 'frame 5 andis adapted for reetilineal movemeitit therebetween, 'through the action of "the: crank 3 and1fly-'v'hee'l 2;

The cross-'head Abearing 6 is rigidly secured to the erossdieadand'comprises any extension member Q3 provided Wthan elongated slot 221adapted to` receive the erossar'm `25 of the oscillator 7 and compensatefor `the"arcuate movement of4 said orossarm 25.A v

The oseillatoru'' eompiii'sesa' yoke 2'6 tha'ving`l "side arms 127fandlQS "and cross arm"2`5, the lsidearms being' secured attheir eX-fill (ill

tremities to bell-crank members 29 and 30 pivotally secured to the posts31 and 32, the yoke 26, as a whole, being oscillatable about the pivotpoints of the bell-cranks 29 and 30, through its cross arm 25 andslotted cross-head member 23.

rl`he actuating assembly is mounted for slidable movement upon theenlarged portion 33 of the driven shaft 11, which portion 33 is mountedfor rotation between the bearing supports 34 and 35 extending from thebase plate 17.

Referring to Figure 4, the actuatingassembly comprises a sleeve 36having a centrally arranged spacing shoulder 37 adapted to space apartand form bearing seats for a pair of ratchet gears 38 and 39, said gearsbeing provided with integral collars 40 and 41 having bores fittingsmoothly over the. sleeve 36 and adapted for rotation thereon, the outerends of said collars being provided with clutch teeth 42 and 43 adaptedfor en-- gagement with either of the clutch collars 44 and 45 slidablysplined upon the enlarged portion 33 of the driven shaft by means ofkeys, or pins, 46 and 47 engaging in the key-way 48 of said shaft,thereby securing the clutch collars 44 and 45 and the sleeve 36 to thedriven shaft, but allowing longitudinal movement thereon.

A plurality of actuating arms49, 50, 51 and 52 are secured in pairs bymeans of pins 53 and 54, the pairs 49 and 50 being disposed inparallelism upon one side of the shaft, and the pairs 51 and 52similarly disposed upon the opposite side of said shaft, each of thearms forming the several pairs having at their inner ends concentricallyarranged hub members 55 adapted to embrace the central shoulder 37 ofthe sleeve 36 and the collars 40 and 41 of the ratchet gears and adaptedto oscillate freely thereon.

The link connections 8 and 9 are of similar configuration and arecomprised of bifurcated upper ends 56 and 56 adapted to form spacers forthe several pairs of actuating arms 49, 50, 51 and 52 and to Which theyare pivotally attached by means of the pins 53 and 54, the lower ends ofsaid links also having bifurcations as indicated at 57 and 58 andadapted to embrace tubular members 59 and 6() carried by the oscillatorside arms 27 and 28, the said tubular members being pinned to the endsof said links by pairs of pins 61 and 62 to compensate for theoscillatory movement of said side arms and tubular members, ashereinafter set forth.

A plurality of spring pressed pavvls 63, 64, and 66 are mounted betweenthe several pairs of actuating arms 49, 50, 51 and 52, by means of pins67, 68, 69 and 70, the pawls 63 and 65 being oppositely and reverselydisposed and adapted to engage the teeth of the forward speed ratchetgear 38, the

pa wls 64 and 66 being similarly disposed relative to the reverse speedratchet gear 39, the said pawls being adapted to actuate in pairs and tointermittently engage their respective ratchet gears, for example, asshown in the drawings, the forward speed gear 38 being connected throughits clutch to the shaft is actuated by the pawl 65 on the up stroke ofthe oscillator 7 and link 8, while the pawl 63 idles, but upon the downstroke of said oscillator and link 9 the pawl 63 becomes active and thepawl 65 idles, the said pawls intermittently imparting substantially acontinuous rotative movement to the driven shaft 11.

The ratchet gears 38 and 39 and actuating` arms and hubs are maintainedin their respective positions by means of hanger plates 71 and 72 havingopenings to receive the gear collars 40 and 41, said hanger plates,gears and actuating arms being held together and supported as a unit bymeans of a sleeve 73 mounted for longitudinal movement upon thereversing shaft 74 of the reversing mechanism 12.

The reversing mechanism 12 is mounted directly above the driven shaftand extends in longitudinal parallelism therewith and is actuated bymeans of a rock-shaft 74 mounted in bearings in-the-upper ends of thebearing supports 34 and 35 and actuated by means of a convenient hand,or foot, lever 75.

rlhe shaft 74 is provided with an enlarged portion 76 between thebearing supports. the said enlarged portion being provided with a sleeve77 carrying collars in the form of cam members 78 land 79 splined to theshaft 74 by means of keys, or pins, 86 and 8l adapted for longitudinalmovement in the keyway 82, for the purpose hereinafter set forth.Opposing cam collars 83 and 84 are mounted upon the sleeve 77 andadapted to contact the cam members 78 and 7 9, which are integrallyformed with the forked clutch shifter arms 85 and 86, the lower ends ofwhich embrace the clutch collars 44 and 45 of the driven shaft, the saidshifter arms being rigidly secured together by the tiorod 87, whichworks through openings in the hanger plates 71 and 72.

In the drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 4, the forward speed ratchet-gearclutch 4() is shown in mesh with the clutch collar 44. but, if it isdesired to reverse the mechanism. the handle, or foot lever, 75 isreversed to the left, or opposite side, Figure l, thereby rotating thesleeve 77, carrying the cam members 78 and 79, and forcing the camcollar 83, carrying the shifter arm 85 and clutch collar 44, out ofengagement with the cam member 78 and causing the shifter arm 86,carried by the cam 84, to shift the clutch collar 45 into engagementWith the clutch collar 41 of the ratchet gear 39.

lll)

maagden 'lllielower ends of. '.thehanger plates 71 andi ,72 areConner-ted together by ,al bottom plat-e188, ,which -is providedat.,itsputeraedgeswith oppositely disposed retaining members 'I- 89andQQO hinged to the plate `S'lby, means; of hinge members 9i1and923,1313@ i,

outer ends of these4` members being ybifurcated, as indicated `abil?)and 94, .to receivel the links "8. and: 9, lheld@loosely in :engagelment therewith theseveral sets. of pins,.-

` and 9 6 [mountedsingthe saidlin-ks,

`The entire unit, ,or assembly, 10j, bearing the reversing mechanism 12,maybe moved, longitudinally, upon.,thev shafts 11, `and 741 tol vary thethrow. ,transn'litted,t from. the

the links `and pawlsto the. ratchet gears and,

consequently, the speed imparted to thea dri ven shaft .t 11,. theneutral position ofthe actuatingl assembly beinga p'ositi'onto`extremeright, Figure 4,.,01, when the vertic cal center of the links 8and 9,corresponds to a. vertical lline ,9;7,drawn,.throughfthe bell- Theactuating; means for, changing lspeeds comprises a push-rod`9Si,inminted, .in bearisecuredfto the push-rodand, in turn,.pivot.

ally secured ,toga j segment ,ai-'m- 107, pjifvotally.

ioounted'at 108 tothe support andrpro vided witlta segment 1.09.atitsdowertend'. A, rock shaft is journalled in the support B5 adjlCGIlL-sthe: 'segmenti 199i and provided at its outer end with a pinion 11.1adapted to mesh With said segment.

The rock-shaft 110 is provided with a rocker arm 112 adapted forconnection to the hanger plate 72, of the actuating assembly, by a. link113, so that upon movement of the push-rod, through actuation of thefoot pedal 103 in one direction, the sneed is accelerated, or, if in theopposite direction, retarded, through moving the actuatingassembly andlinks 8 and 9 either away from or toward the pivotal points of theoscillator 7.

The brake mechanism 13 is of the reciprocating plunger type adapted toby-pass a liquid, such as oil, from oneoylinder to another through aspecial valve shown), the geared connections to the driven shaft 'beingoperable by means of a clutch actuated by a shifter-fork and push-rodii'iechanism 'lil connected to a foot pedal not shown).

lt is apparent from the foregoing that I by f greatly; increasin yengine poseen -transm l provid-ing'anrlatcitywofiaction net formales(not have Produced; af tra-miniemen that. may; be substituted; fonthefpresent time tra-nsmi'sr-sv sion; of, .anyautomobile cons tnuction,the: duivinggshaf-t l being adaptedifor connes y tionfto they-engine,and-fthezdriven shaft: 11;, 70 through thefiord-inany universal@ aint,to the;

differentialfpassemblyf ofi theman-:axle:

`The-arlangement-ofi the link connections and actuating a-irrns,,A and;ltheir; slidableIl con nect ons toatlie..- .osoillatorgiadarptsf thismech- 75 anism to tbe set -atg ,acneutral positionandiy to be: graduallymoved from `til-)soifpimita'l pointsY offthe oscillator,orf-neutralzfposition, :toward: the .,crossfarmz, to: increase the'leverage.: and,consequent-,throw imparted through the-130 atllwtlgz?almas and' panelsr to the ratchetgears-rand; finally, tofgtlreudrivenshaft, ,there l tbef ellieiency: of the tedrtow itlrisz--zshafti4 and'inthe.rmliniuytransmssion.,-

Havingthaiskv d esribed invennion, l? claim,` and desire tel secure-,-byf Lettera Patent:

l; Imangautomobilewtransmssion;thefc om-f'y 90` binlation f'witlr adri'vingpshjaft. and* andrivenn shaft, of an` oscililtlstorfopenativelyy .connected tosaiddrivirrg, haft, anfactnwtiing assemblyl mountedgupon; said driven: shaft: and",` opere f ati vely conneetedto :sa-idfoscillatorgk :sa id, acL 95 mating assembly; comprising linie comme--ll Atio-ns `rto said oscillatomgacttwtingz-: arms con netting;Saidxlinlgrconnectionsgito; ,s aid'zdrivexr: Sha/ft, ratchet wheels;-monnted llipon- .saiddrivenshagft, pfawls mounted'upon said actuatingimsf valid adapted to engaesaid: ratchet Wheels; and#means-:forashaftmgsaid l assembly to var, Ythe speed torque, transe:l

mittedfromsai rivingushaftethroughsaid: oscillator to saadfdr-iven'shaft. 1051? t prising link connections mounted to oscillate with saidoscillator, actuatingarms pivotally connected to said link connectionsand mounted for movement about said driven 15 shaft, ratchet Wheelsloosely mounted upon said driven shaft, pawls mounted upon saidactuating arms and adapted to engage said ratchet Wheels, and means forvarying longitudinally the position of said actuating,120 assembly, as aunit, with respect to said oscillator, `for varying the speedtransmitted through said oscillator and said actuating assembly to thedriven shaft.

3. In an automobile transmission, a driven shaft, an actuating assemblymounted for slidable movement upon said driven sha-ft, said actuatingassembly comprising actuating arms mounted for oscillation about saiddriven shaft and'bearing ratchet Wheel enshaft,

gaging means, ratchet Wheels mounted upon said shaft, clutch means forsaid ratchet Wheels adapted to selectively connect said ratchet wheelsto vsaid shaft, and means for imparting an intermittent oscillatorymovement to said actuating arms, thereby causing a nea-rly'continuousrotary movement to be transmitted, through either of said ratchetwheels, to said driven shaft.

4f.. In an automobile transmission, a. driven shaft, an actuatingassembly mounted for` slidable movement upon said driven shaft, saidactuating assembly comprising` actuat ing arms mounted for oscillationabout said driven shaft and bearing ratchet wheel engaging means,ratchet wheels mounted upon said shaft, clutch means for said ratchetwheels adapted to selectively connectsaid ratchet wheels to said shaft,means for imparting an intermittentv oscillatory movement to said arms,thereby causing a nearly continuous rotary movement to be trans-`mitted, through either of said ratchet wheels, to said driven shaft, andmeans for varying the throw of said actuating arms to vary the speedtransmitted to Said driven shaft.

5. In an automobile'transmissioma driven an actuating assembly slidablymounted upon said shaft, said actuating assembly comprising a pluralityof actuating` arms lmounted to oscillate about saiddriven shaft, ratchetmechanisms borne by said shaft and said actuating arms, clutch meansborne by said ratchet mechanisms, clutch collars borney by said drivenshaft and adapted for engagement with predetermined ofsaid ratchetmechanism clutches, means for oscillating said actuating arms, and meansfor moving said actuating assembly as a unit, to vary the stroketransmitted through said actuating arms'to the ratchet mechanism. v 'fvsaid shaft, clutch means borne by said ratchet mechanisms, clutchcollars splined to said ldriven shaft and adapted for engagement withpredetermined of said ratchet gears, means for shifting said clutchcollars from forward to reverse speed positions, and means for shiftingsaid actuating assembly as a whole, as and for the purpose specified:

7. An automobile transmission comprising a driven shaft, an actuatingassembly slidably mounted upon said driven shaft and comprising a pawland ratchet mechanism adapted to impart a Substantially continuousrotary movement to said shaft, mea-ns for reversing said pawl andratchet mechanism, and means for accelerating and retarding the speedtransmitted therethrough to the driven shaft by a predeterminedpositioning ofsaid actuating assembly with respect to said driven shaft.

8. An automobile'transmission: comprising a driven shaft, an actuatingassembly loosely mounted upon said driven shaft and comprising a sleeveprovided with forward and reverse speed ratchet mechanisms beariim,`clutch members, clutch collars borne by said sleeve, said sleeve andcollars being slidably splined to said shaft, means for shifting saidclutch collars into and out of engagement with said" ratchet clutchmembers, and means for imparting a nearly continuous rotary movementthrough said ratchet mechanisms to said driven shaft.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

HENRY O. HAMILTON.

